score: 5/10

Dracula: Origin

Dracula: Origin is a pedantic and anemic adventure game that, while entertaining, doesn't add anything new to the genre. It’s your typical point-and-click adventure game, charging the player to take control of Professor Van Helsing to collect items and solve brain bending puzzles. The story is a truncated version of the famous Bram Stoker’s classic horror novel; Van Helsing travels across Europe chasing the infamous Count Dracula back to his lair in Transylvania after discovering his murderous spree in London. The player traces the story through a series of notes and conversations which segues into new locations to explore. The graphics are quite lovely; backgrounds look hand drawn and character models are conveyed nicely though the animations behind them are jerky. The set pieces really pop graphically with minute detail everywhere although most environments are static. Relatively strong graphics don’t do much to support the rest of the game however. The story is a contrite distillation of the classic tome that rips out only the most important parts and leaves the rest of the narrative behind. Pixel hunting, a wailing point of many veteran adventure gamers, is abundant and some strange logic applications are required to solve some environmental puzzles. The voice acting is abysmal but not so bad as to ruin the game. For a budget title, Dracula: Origin isn't a bad game at all; it’s just not very good. It’s a great title to load up if you’re looking for a quick romp in the point-and-click realm or if you’re seeking a diversion between marathon sessions of admittedly better games.

PROS:Beautiful and detailed set piecesSome really clever puzzles to figure outGorgeous music

CONS:Horrifying voice actingGame is far too shortNot refined compared to other adventure games

graphics

Dracula: Origin isn't an ugly game and some real finesse can be seen as you play the game. The story guides the player to some interesting locations but it’s a shame that they’re all so cliché. Baroque London mansions and an Egyptian tomb have been done to death in the video game industry, but at least Dracula: Origin makes these places detailed and beautiful. The backdrops are full to bursting with details: a library stuffed to the gills with books, murky dungeons with slimy walls, and a ruined Gothic cathedral that’s starkly contrasted by a beautiful stained glass window. There’s always some little detail to catch; the fact that the game world doesn't have much interaction stifles the amount of on-screen splendor. In more refined adventure games these little details will at least be commented on even if they don’t have anything to do with moving the game along. Dracula: Origin feels so empty without Van Helsing at least noticing some little piece of background fluff; all the beautiful minutiae means nothing and only serves to keep the locations interesting enough to keep you playing. Character models are rendered relatively well but the animations behind them look like they came out of something you’d have played in the 90’s. When characters speak there is a hint of mouth animation which is always nice to see especially in a game that’s got bargain bin written all over it. They’re not motion captured but most adventurers will appreciate this little addition in a genre that’s been sadly flooded by cheap titles with poor production values. Cut-scenes are rendered in high quality 3D but they’re far too short to fully appreciate and the only place that the flouted PhysX technology is integrated. Even loading screens are portrayed well, looking like high level concept art to fill in the gaps as you transition from one location to the next. Overall the graphics in Dracula: Origin are done well. Lame animations and a lack of interaction with the environments mar the otherwise beautiful surface. In a genre where the graphics can be hit or miss it’s nice to see a developer pouring so much effort into the look of an adventure game. Wonderfully detailed backgrounds will give you pause and a thankful lack of copious amounts of backtracking means each new place you visit will be fresh and exciting without becoming overly redundant. Levels are small though, but with them so densely packed with content your eyes will never get too bored. Stiff animations and a lack of any real detail on character models round off the complaints. Dracula: Origin is one hell of a beautiful adventure game but pretty graphics can only carry the game so far though with the sound and spotty gameplay dragging this tale down.

Sound

Dracula: Origin is sonically a mixed bag. On one hand the music is gorgeous and fits the mood so perfectly and showcases some high quality work; on the other hand the voice acting and sound effects are completely cheap and saccharine. The voice acting especially is so grossly overdone it falls over the edge into the pit of melodrama. In a strange twist, the voice acting tries to be so emotional that it comes off as emotionless. With short conversations and Van Helsing not having much to say about his surroundings you’ll be spared having to trudge through lengthy conversations that make your ears bleed. The sound effects, those beyond the main menu, are also pretty terrible and in most instances make no sense and they all sound cheap. Clicking on a cloth robe will sound a rustling fabric effect but it sounds like some stock effect taken off the Internet. Attempting to combine inventory items that don’t belong together generates something I can only approximate as two rusty pipes being scraped together. A simple click or some other minimal sound effect would have sufficed; hell, I’d even have opted for Van Helsing to proclaim an overly emphatic “no” or “that doesn't work”. The music sits comfortably in the background, only popping up now and again to add a little dramatic flair. It’s a delightful symphonic soundtrack and it really ramps up towards the end of the game where Castle Dracula is the showcase. Creepy pipe organs over a melancholy string section all blend perfectly to enhance the mood. No amount of pretty music can cover up the outright horrid voice acting and the spotty sound effects rub just a little more salt into the neck punctures. Where the splendid graphics and middling music get blown to smithereens is in the actual gameplay experience.

GamePLay

Dracula: Origin is your typical point-and-click adventure. Scan the environment for items to collect, combine them in your inventory, or use them in the environment to unlock new areas and drive the story forward. If you've played any kind of computer adventure title you’ll find nothing extraordinary here. In a way it’s comforting to know what to expect and how to interact with the game world, but on the flip side there’s nothing fresh here to add some oomph. The puzzles themselves are actually quite well done. An adventure game with crappy puzzles or ones that make no real logical sense can instantly ruin most video games of this type. Dracula: Origin’s puzzles are, for the most part, well-constructed and a little bit of brain power will help you solve those that aren't immediately recognizable. The fact that the game shies away from some of the typical hair-pulling brain teasers that other adventure games force upon the player is noteworthy. You won’t find any unsolvable sliders and most puzzles can be figured out without consulting a walkthrough. Another blessing to the environmental puzzles is a reset button. If you think you really messed up a simple click sets the puzzle back to its starting point easily. It’s a great addition and one that other adventure games should take note of when they rely heavily on environmental puzzles over conversation or inventory conundrums. Beyond some exceptional puzzles Dracula: Origin is mostly bland. Conversations are short, not concise; more exchanges with snappy dialogue would have served better. A great adventure game is loaded with smart chatter delivered via some sharp voice acting; this game has droll writing that’s overworked and way over acted but at least all lines are delivered quickly so you won’t sit for hours waiting for someone to finish half a novel worth of dialogue. Some characters must be revisited in order to learn valuable information in order to either move the story forward or gather intel to solve a puzzle. The cast is exceptionally small so you won’t have to do a ton of back tracking to locate the one person in the entire game world who holds the knowledge you need. Double clicking also saves on travel time as it instantly loads the next screen. The game moves along at a comfortable pace ushering you from one brain bender to the next. A few minutes of observation and a quick reference to your character’s note book will usually reveal the solution to some of the tougher puzzles. Some are outright bizarre but they do make a certain type of video game logic. If you don’t want to consult a walkthrough a little thinking outside the box or bending your reasoning will usually yield a positive result. If you’re really into pixel hunting Dracula: Origin is right up your alley. Required items blend in so perfectly with the environments they’re impossible to spot with the naked eye and they’re usually quite small and tucked away in some obscure corner of the room. A tap of the space bar will reveal any part of the environment that can be interacted with, but this almost feels like cheating. Adventure games should guide the player to what they need with some twisted logic not an escape route that cheapens the gameplay. Half the fun of adventure games is discovering objects and solving puzzles with mind power alone, not having the game give up the ghost with the press of a button. Thankfully, Dracula: Origin side steps some of the cardinal sins of the genre it’s just shameful that it didn't take the time to go any further. The game is far too short, the puzzles aren't of particular challenge, and the voice acting and script is blunt and awkwardly written. Some puzzles are clever but nothing that stands out so much that makes anything noteworthy. Dracula: Origin is a solid adventure game that sits squarely in the middle of the genre; it’s not unplayable, but it doesn't even attempt to break out of the box either.

Final Thoughts

Dracula: Origin is rock solid in terms of stability and progress. The story is easy to follow and fans of the classic piece of literature, from which all the source material is drawn from, will be able to interact with some characters they’ll be familiar with. Conversations are short and sweet but the faulty voice acting shreds the writing, which isn't great to begin with, into a million grating pieces. Most puzzles are challenging enough to most players, especially those who only causally enter the adventure scene, but veteran players may find the puzzles too easy. A few are frustrating and there is one puzzle that requires a working knowledge of a piano keyboard. Puzzles like this are presumptuous and archaic and those who don’t know anything about music will either have to close the game to do some research or grab a walkthrough to get past this. A few other puzzles require some basic arithmetic to solve, but again these feel like old hat compared to more modern adventure games that focus more on clever inventory combinations or more complex environmental puzzling. If you’re a fan of the adventure genre then you’ll certainly enjoy your time with Dracula: Origin. The game drives forward at a nice pace and you move swiftly from one set piece to the next without having to do much back tracking. Most puzzles are gratifying, don’t fall into the obscure, and don’t require precision timing or blind luck to solve. The real faults in this game are cringe worthy voice acting and a lack of innovation. If you've been playing games like this for a long while then you’ll know exactly what’s expected of you. If the game took some extra time to expand on the story or to guide the player to more varied locations beyond the ones we've seen a million times over then the game would have been bumped up a few points. As it stands, Dracula: Origin is a solid, if overdone, adventure game that’s worth your time only if you’re a die-hard fan of the genre or are looking for something to keep you occupied while you wait for more noteworthy titles to roll around.